


The Ace Up My Sleeve

by Ghost_of_Icarus, Undertale_lover



Series: The Ace Up My Sleeve [1]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Major character death - Freeform, Original fantasy story - Freeform, dndlike races
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-15 02:21:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29676936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ghost_of_Icarus/pseuds/Ghost_of_Icarus, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Undertale_lover/pseuds/Undertale_lover
Summary: The most polished version of a story that my friends and I have been working onFour kingdoms fighting in a generations long war, no end in sight. Each kingdom's heir hears a whisper of kings and queens from the past.Can they put aside what they have been taught since birth to save their home, or will they be the death of each other?
Series: The Ace Up My Sleeve [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2180754





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place many, many generations before the events of the main story. After this, there will be chapters that introduce the four main characters!

A small group of people watched as their once great city burned, shattering sounds came as colorful glass shattered and fell to the ground. A great groan was heard from the center of the city, and all watched as the ornate top dome of the palace caved in, the flames made quick work of the rest.  
Up in the sky, five winged beasts flew in a frenzy, fire spewing from their open jaws. The once king of the city watched with grief as Evren, the red winged beast dove in, the blue one following in quick pursuit. The other three were green, yellow, and white.  
Atop the white one, there was another person, he was different from the small group on the ground, this man appeared very different from them, and was mad as a cow.  
All faces on the ground turned towards the king, “King Kurek, what are we going to do? The fires will surely take out everything, and maybe spread towards the other cities, it could destroy the entire kingdom!”  
Alparslan hung his head, his crooked horns cast a long shadow as the sun went down, the king’s tail stilled and he let out a sob.  
A little girl tugged at his sleeve, “Papa, can we go home yet?”  
He shook his head at her, “No little one, we have to go live somewhere else for now, but maybe when you get older we can come back.”  
“But Sir Fluffy is still in my room,” she exclaimed, too big for her head horns waving around wildly as she looked back and forth from her father to the burning palace.  
“Meltem, I’m sorry, but we have to leave him there for now, I promise you that we will come back for him as soon as we can,” King Alparslan held up his pinky for her to lock her’s with.  
He stood tall and faced the others, “Our capitol may have fallen, but we have other places. We will keep the fire away, we will teach our people how to adapt. We will live through this. For now though, we just need to move.”  
The displaced people nodded their heads, and one by one, they began to move their tired feet. One by one they said their goodbyes to the great city they had once called their home.  
The last three were the king, his only daughter, and his most trusted advisor and friend, “My king, do you know where we’re going?”  
Alparslan hesitated, “Erican, I cannot lie to you, I… I have no idea. I do know that we need to be strong for everyone else.”  
Erican looked at the little girl asleep in Alparslan’s arms, “You need to be strong for her.”  
“I Know.” 

With that they turned from the city they helped build and headed northwards. 

The five beasts were not done yet, they had two more stops.

Many miles away, tucked into deep forests another King was soon to be in the same situation as Alparslan.  
King and Queen Tlalli were unaware of what was quickly heading their way. They were celebrating, their people around them dancing to the sounds of merry percussions. Great platters of food lined on tables, great big cuts of meat seasoned with extravagant spices, slowly roasted vegetables, sweet fruits with a light dusting of a finely powdered sugar, and savory and warm breads.  
They were celebrating finally having their borders set for good, it had taken months to convince King Corazon to let them have a few miles of foothills for some of their rivers.  
It had worked out for all, everyone was happy with it. Or so they thought.  
Forest creatures were the first sign that something was wrong. They came fleeing and ran right through the festivities. Predators and prey were running side by side to escape something that was coming, some tripped and were trampled by the others.  
The next sign was the tree’s branches whipping around in a wind that was coming in quickly. The King’s wings unfolded and lifted him off the ground, and above the trees.  
What he saw shook his very core. Five great dragons were flying his way, their enormous wings carried them swiftly. The trees bent around the force of their wingbeats, and their fire had taken to the trees. It was the image of destruction.  
King Tlalli dropped back down, everyone had now stopped dancing and feasting, he yelled to them, “Run! We are under attack!” Under his command, insect-like wings lifted the party-goers off the ground.  
Too many of them were too slow, either already dunk, or disbelieving their king.  
Queen Tlalli had grabbed her young son and flew away as soon as her husband had started to come down. She was racing against the fires.  
King Tlalli had tried to help as many of his council members as possible before a familiar figure came down.  
The insect king stared, a look of terror spread thick on his face, “What is the meaning of this?”  
King Corazon bowed, “All of you were wrong, my theories were right! You can still join us, you can wield the true powers of Vishap, or Evren, since Alparslan already gave his answer.”  
King Tlalli’s wings fluttered in surprise, “You’re a raving mad man!”  
King Corazon stood to his full height, towering over Tlalli, a dark and smug look on his face, “It is your funeral then.”  
King Corazon drew his sword and ran King Tlalli through. Corazon pulled his sword back and watched as Tlalli crumpled to the ground, the blood draining from his face.

The Insect King, Cicadidae Tlalli, used his last breath to call, “Vishap, please…”  
Corazon continued his sentence, “Yes Vishap, go eliminate the boy. The Tlalli bloodline ends with them!” 

The smallest of the dragons moved away from the group and headed for the southern border. Vishap seemed to blend in with the leaves of the tree, the shades of green seemed to move across his scales to help him blend in.  
It didn’t take very long for Vishap to find where Queen Tlalli had stopped to catch her breath and calm down her son, she was singing for him, “Hush my baby, day will come. Day will come and the sun will wash away the pain. You will grow, you will find your way.” 

Vishap watched their interaction with a cocked head, he could almost recall something as he kept watching them. It felt like so long ago, but he could almost remember the day the little squirming mass came out into the world.  
Eventually the child’s attention turned to Vishap, and the little one made grabbing hands at him. Queen Tlalli’s attention turned too, but she looked scared.  
All of this and what King Tlalli had said to Vishap made him turn and fly away, back to the carnage. 

When Vishap got back, King Corazon was still standing over King Tlalli’s dead body, “That took you long enough, is it done?” Vishap was stared at the body of his once friend, he felt numb, he broke the spell that Corazon had put on all of them… That Nidhogg had put on all of them.  
Corazon looked Vishap over, but didn’t press it, “Then let’s go. We have one more stop.” 

In the middle of a large island sat Datu Brilyante, King of Brine. He had seen the smoke rising from the mainland. Reports from his western most outposts reported heavy fires and large creatures flying through the air. King Brilyante knew that he was next on the list. 

Through the chambers came his three children, wife, and butler.  
The butler was the first to say anything, “My liege, King Corazon has arrived, he appears to be out of his mind.”  
The king sat, contemplating for a moment before speaking, “I will face him, I know what he has done, I know how to deal with him.”  
His wife, Queen Brilyante rushed to him, “My love, you cannot! He can no longer see reason. You will surely be killed.”  
Datu looked her in the eyes, “I know you can’t stand the thought of losing me, but I know he will not stop until he is dead. May the gods have mercy on him.”

The King of the Brine, King Datu Brilyante grabbed his short sword, best chest piece, and fur before leaving to greet King of the Great Mountain, Doloin Corazon. 

Outside, atop Nidhogg’s pearly white head, stood Corazon, “Hello Datu, good weather here, eh?”  
“Dolion, could you come down here so we can talk, like normal people,” King Brilyante kept his tone even.  
Corazon fully focused his eyes on Brilyante before saying, “How can I come down if I’m on top of the world?”  
Brilyante moved to be closer, “I just want to discuss how we’ll go about the process you talked so much about.”  
“You do?! Oh, of course you do! I knew You’d come through for me, old friend,” Corazon had become visibly happier and bounced on his heels before launching himself off Nidhogg.  
Datu began calmly, “Have you already gone through with it?”  
“No, not yet… Have to wait for the right time, tonight,” Corazon moved about wildly, flinging his hands about, “Need both moons to be at the fullest they can be!”  
Datu watched as from the tips of Corazon’s pointed ears to the base of his neck turn red as he went further into his rant over the ritual. The most Datu got was that the souls needed to connect. He knew that whatever was going to happen would be much sooner than he anticipated, and much deadlier than he planned.  
Only when time is of the essence does it become the thing you need the most. This is one of those instances.  
Datu stuck out his hand, “One last flight? Before total power?”  
“Absolutely,” Corazon grined. 

King Datu Brilyante hopped onto the back of the dragon with beautiful blue scales, and King Doloin Corazon got onto the white scaled dragon, and they flew off. 

Now, no one is quite sure of what happened to them, but they were never seen alive after that. Years later, after his eldest had ascended to the throne, King Brilyante’s body was found in the plains of Inferno. The people of Inferno were blamed, and all four kingdoms went to war with one another. 

Not long into the war, alliances formed, Inferno with Insect and Mountain with Brine. The war would last over three centuries before it was out.


	2. Ilkay Kurek, The Old Cathedral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the introduction chapter of Ilkay Kurek, the resident smart ass.

The steady drumming of fingers on solid wood was the only sound in a large, and relatively empty hall. Two adults stared down their teen, the teen had snuck out to meet up with non-royals outside the city.  
Their mother began, “I can’t believe this kind of behavior! From My own child no less! You are supposed to make your father and I look good!”  
“Ilkay, your mother and I are very disappointed,” their father continued for his wife, “If this keeps up, we’ll have to find a punishment that was worse than last time.”  
“It is not befitting for someone of our status to be seen out with vermin like that! You make us look like bad parents,” Queen Kurek ranted.  
Ilkay thought back to the friend that they had gone out to meet up with. He had been a rogue from Brine. He had once been in a wealthy family of merchants, but had been ostracized when he had a fight with his father that had been blown out of proportion. Ilkay felt for him, they somewhat understood what an event like that could do to a person.  
Ilkay was a sympathiser of the rogues, many of them had been displaced due to the war that was constantly going on. Too many of them were close to Ilkay’s age, and the rogues were often reasonably angry at the kingdoms, so Ilkay did what they could. Ilkay would often sneak out of the capital city to bring supplies for rogues they met in the bazaar. While lost in thought they picked up their cup and took a sip.  
Queen Kurek snapped her fingers in Ilkay’s face, “ Are you even paying attention to me? I asked you a question. I swear you are so disrespectful.”  
“Sorry, what did you ask,” Ilkay mumbled quietly around their drink.  
Queen Kurek let out an exaggerated sigh, “I asked if you have begun to get ready for the grand ball we’re hosting for the Tlalli’s in three weeks?”  
“Yes, I have,” Ilkay responded quickly this time. They thought of what would most likely go down that night, their parents would act all nice for everyone and then yell at Ilkay when the guests left for the night. It’s what always happened, no matter what Ilkay did, it was never good enough for their parents.  
“May I be excused, my lessons will be starting soon,” Ilkay asked, trying to get away from their parents.  
King Kurek nodded, no longer paying any mind to what happened around him. Queen Kurek gestured for Ilkay’s personal guards to join them. Together, the three walked out of the hall and walked the corridors.  
The shorter guard, Firtina, had a teasing smile on her face as she asked innocently, “Lessons? My liege, your lessons are tomorrow?”  
The second guard, much taller than the other two named Zaman agreed with a nod, “She is right, did you just want out of there?”  
“Alright, you two got me… Geez, nothing gets past the two of you,”” Ilkay put their hands up in defence.  
Once Firtina was sure no one else was around, she slung her arm over Ilkay’s shoulder, “Well, duh, we’ve kinda known you forever.”  
The three continued down the corridor lazily, until Ilkay had an idea, “Could we go to the old cathedral? You know, that one we went to when we were like, ten?”  
The other two were quick to agree to their idea, it sounded like a perfect way to kill their collective boredom. They just had to make their way out of the walls of the palace.  
They ducked and hid from the few patrols that paced the halls, almost being caught once, but Firtina pulled Ilkay and Zaman into a small nook that the three had to cram themselves into.  
When the coast was clear, Ilkay wiggled away from the other two, followed by Firtina and Zaman, “Let’s hope that we don’t have to do that again.”  
Firtina nodded in agreement, “Yeah, Ilkay’s fat head takes up most of the room.”  
Ilkay glared at Firtina for a few seconds before they couldn’t contain the laughter anymore, with a wide grin, Ilkay moved into a crouch position and slowly moved towards Firtina before launching themselves up.  
“Take it back,” Ilkay joked.  
Firtina was struggling to push Ilkay off, “Never!”  
Ilkay held onto Firtina’s shoulders with an iron grip, “Then I’m not getting off you!”  
“Zaman, could you help me,” Firtina asked, pulling the most innocent face she could.  
“Nope,” he replied with a grin, “You got yourself into this. But we should keep going before we run into another guard.”  
“Forward my noble steed,” Ilkay declared with their index finger pointing forward. Firtina accepted her fate and began to walk. With Ilkay on her shoulders, she was slower, but she kept going. 

By the time they reached the door, Ilkay’s grip had relaxed, so Firtina dropped them onto the ground. Ilkay landed with a thud and a noise of indignation. Nothing was said as Firtina pushed open the door and they all walked out of the suffocating palace and into dry morning air.  
Once they were far enough away, Ilkay laughed, “I never thought that we’d be out again!”  
“What do ya mean,” Zaman asked, somewhat confused.  
“Well, I just thought that my parents would never stop their lecture,” Ilkay did a poor impression of their mother, “Ilkay, I raised you. Ilkay, you will respect me. Ilkay, I’m a tyrical snob who will judge you for not being exactly like me!”  
The other two laughed, they had both seen the many times that Ilkay had angered their parents enough for a lecture. That never took too much effort though. 

They all kept walking and joking around, but it didn’t take very long for them to arrive at the old cathedral, the chains on the front door glimmering in the sunlight, a reminder to people like them to stay out. Not like any of the teenagers who went there for fun cared, or listened.  
Zaman led the way to the busted window that served as an entry point, “Careful of the glass.”  
He stood to the side for Ilkay and Firtina, “Ah, ever the gentleman, aren’t you?”  
“You know it.” 

Once they were all inside and in the main level Ilkay began to yell loudly, “AAAAHHHHH, echo, echo, hellooooo.”  
“Ilkay is a loser,” Firtina joked.  
“Firtina has absolutely no idea what she’s talking about,” Ilkay retorted to no one in particular.  
“When the two of you are done over there, come check this out, I found something cool,” Zaman said from a doorway. He walked back down the hall, assumingly to what he found.  
Ilkay and Firtina looked at each other before racing towards him, pushing and shoving each other to get there first.  
Firtina had won, but Ilkay had tripped and fell into the wall, their horns stuck in the rotting material. They pulled, but to no avail, they couldn’t free themself from the wall.  
Firtina laughed at them, “You good there, your highness?”  
“Oh yeah, I’m just peachy here, ya know, stuck in a wall,” Ilkay sent a pointed look at her.  
Ilkay continued to struggle for a few more minutes before Zaman came out from the hall, “Hey, are you two, oh, you’re stuck.”  
“Yeah thanks for pointing out the obvious,” Ilkay stopped pushing at the wall, “A little help would be nice.”  
“Hang on, let me take a look,” Zaman offered before creating a small flame so he could clearly see where their horns were.  
Ilkay was getting more frustrated by the second, “Do you think you can get me out?”  
“Yes, but it might hurt a bit,” He was honest.  
“Just do it, I’ll live.” 

With a few tugs, Ilkay’s horns were free from the wall, two holes now proof of their misfortune. 

“Now, come look at this, it’s pretty cool,” he said before leading the two down the dark hall. Each of them had flames crackling at their fingertips, giving ambient light to the narrow hall. It was just barely enough to see into some of the rooms that branched off.  
In a small room nearly at the end of the corridor, was a shrine of sorts. It wasn’t uncommon for the people of Inferno to be spiritual, but this didn’t look like any known deity’s shrine. It looked obsessive, notes and drawn pictures praising one deity, that was just referred to as “The Harbinger.” Small offerings were scattered all around the base and first tier of the shrine, things ranging from food at various levels of decomposition to small jewels. Whoever built it was devoted, but didn’t want it to be found.  
“This was that door that was always locked,” Zaman said while staring at the drawings.  
Ilkay looked confused, “The one we couldn’t even really burn?”  
Zaman nodded.  
They all continued to stare at the shrine, not sure what to do. 

Footsteps began down the hall, and all three of their heads snapped to attention.  
Zaman was the first to react, “We gotta get out.” He grabbed Ilkay and Firtina, and dashed out. The footsteps were nearing and their way out was blocked.  
Ilkay looked panicked, “What are we going to do?”  
“I got this,” Firtina said before sprinting at the door, igniting herself when she got close. Zaman kept his hold on Ilkay as he followed suit.  
Whoever was coming heard the door burst open and began to run towards them. 

Ilkay caught a glimpse of the person, it was one of the rogues that they knew. He was wearing black robes, and was holding something silver in his hand. 

Sometime while they were running, Zaman put Ilkay down. 

They ran until they could see the palace, by that time, they were all out of breath, and had to stop.  
Through her gasping Firtina exclaimed, “Man, that was a bit scary.”  
“Oh really, couldn’t tell,” Zaman replied, “Hey, Ilkay, you good?”  
“Heh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine, that wasn’t what I was expecting today though,” Ilkay admitted. They looked to the sky and said, “We should probably get back in time for dinner… Don’t feel like getting yelled at again.”  
“Good point.” 

They walked back in silence, two coming down from their adrenaline high, the other thinking about what they saw.


	3. Alicia Corazon, Dreams of Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far the introduction chapters are going to be a bit shorter than main story chapters. Alicia is the second of four to be introduced

Click, click, click. The steady sound could be heard throughout the halls, the noise bouncing around the high ceilings. That sound was Queen Corazon briskly striding down the halls. She turned corners, and went up flights of stairs, she was making her way to the library. She was sure that is where those two had gotten off to, they never stayed put where they were told.  
Queen Corazon soon reached the large doors, she stood there for a moment, collecting herself. After a few moments, she pushed one of the doors open, and was immediately greeted by the smell of hundreds of old books. She looked at the tables in view, but no signs of someone being there. She quietly walked to one of the sides, checking in all of the isles before going to the other side.  
It was there she found one of the two she was looking for. With her back facing her mother, Alicia Corazon sat at a table, large pieces of paper and books open and sprawled out around her.  
“Alicia, do you know where your brother is,” Queen Corazon asked from the end of the section.  
Alicia shook her head, “No, but I think he might be out in the marketplace, with the duke’s son.”  
Queen Corazon simply nodded and tried to peer at what Alicia was working, but with no success, she simply walked back out of the library.  
Alicia turned to watch as her mother strode out, before getting back to work. She dipped her quill into the ink. When the tip touched the paper, she continued her lines, lines, so many lines. All of those hours, making those little lines had finally started to take shape. It was a large scale drawing of the castle that she lived in, carved out of the mountain.  
The castle had grand, high, vaulted ceilings, huge glass windows to let in the cool light from outside, and snow covered towers. A large city beneath, the castle felt like a guardian angel to the townsfolk and royals alike. While most would think that a place like that would be cold and dreary, the king and queen made sure that their people and son were happy and bright. Shades of blues, reds, greens, and yellows colored the streets of the town and the halls of the castle.  
Alicia became lost in her thoughts as she continued, hours passed, and the sun began to set. The only times she got up were to get herself more water, and to light the small lamps kept on the tables.  
Not long after she lit the lamps, her brother came into the library, and tried to mess with her, “What are you working on?”  
Alicia didn’t say anything, hoping he would just go away if she ignored him long enough.  
“Are you drawing? What are you drawing? Can you draw me,” he drew out the ‘e’ in me.  
Alicia shook her head, “Please go away.”  
Her little brother huffed, “But why?”  
“Please,” she requested.  
He paused for a moment, and looked as if he were pondering her request, “Nope.”  
Alicia sighed and put down her quill, “Did you find out why mom was looking for you?”  
“I didn’t know she was looking for me,” her little brother looked a bit surprised.  
Alicia nodded, then watched as he turned and started to sprint away from the table, presumably to find their mother. She stayed like that for a few moments, listening to the only sound in the library, the loud ticking of the large clock that hung next to the door.  
When she turned back, to look over her progress, she had to stifle a yawn. After that, she decided that it was time for her to go to bed. Her clean-up was quick, rinse the ink from the nib of the quill, put away extra paper, and snuff most of the lamps. She would take the last lamp with her to light her walk to her room.  
As she walked through the halls, she was silent, the only hint that someone was there was the light and shadows that bounced calmly on the walls. She swore that the eyes of the paintings followed her, the eyes of her ancestors silently judging her every move. 

When she got to her room, she set down the lamp on the vanity that was near her bed. She pulled the chair out, sat down, took her shoes off, set them next to her others, then looked at herself in the mirror.  
Her dark eyes observed everything, from the tips of her pointed ears, to the slight point of her teeth. Alicia saw the eyebags forming under her eyes when she picked up the brush and began to run it through her long hair. Section after section, she made sure that the tangles undone, just as her mother would lecture her about when she was younger. It didn’t take very long for her to finish up.  
She changed into her nightclothes and slipped under her blankets, she laid down, staring at the ceiling. It didn’t take long for the lack of sleep to catch up with her.  
Once again she saw the reason she had been skipping sleep. It was a room, but the walls were made of fire, and voices bounced around so quickly that Alicia couldn’t pinpoint where they came from.  
“Hello? Why am I here, who are you,” She asked to the room. Nothing solid came back, just many voices trying to get her to hear them. A sound soon overpowered all of the voices, it was the sound of wings beating, wings flying something large through the air. It sounded like whatever it was, it was drawing close to where she stood.  
Dread filled Alicia and compelled her to start running, quickly picking up speed, her feet barely touching the ground. She crossed the room in mere seconds, soon she was nearly pressed to the wall of flame. She could feel the heat, but that wasn’t her top worry, she knew she needed to get away from what was coming.  
“Alicia,” a voice called to her, dread turned into something much worse, it nearly rooted her to the ground she stood upon. Any thought that had been in her head left as she braced herself to launch herself through the flames, the possible pain of being burned alive seemed to be a better option than whoever was trying to speak to her.  
A shadow appeared near the wall furthest from her, she tensed all of her muscles and when two sets of eyes, one white and one a deep scarlet, appeared, she pushed off the ground with all of her might. 

She woke with a start, swore she could feel the flames licking at her skin, and she could still feel the eyes boring into her very soul. As Alicia calmed down, she realized that she was covered in sweat, and all of her limbs were shaking like the last leaf in the fall trying to hang onto the tree.  
She sat up and swung her legs over the bed, her feet easily reaching the floor, the carpet plush under her. Alicia pushed herself up shakily, just standing, reacquainting herself with her room. She looked at the drawings that she had liked enough to put on the wall, the map of the stars, and the family portrait, her mother and father painted faces seemed to mock her disheveled state.  
She didn’t get anymore sleep that night. She left her room, and made her way to the kitchen, where in a few hours servants would come in to prepare breakfast for the Corazons. The servants had found Alicia here many times, lost in her thoughts, so none of them were fazed by it. They would just greet her like usual, the oldest maid would talk to her about the dreams, the old woman firmly believed that they meant something. All of the others in the kitchen would dismiss her, but Alicia would listen carefully. 

After she ate, she went back to the library, but a slight doubt had wormed its way into her head. A doubt that she would be alone in there, that her work would go undisturbed. Her pace was slower than usual, she took her time walking, looking at the ornate patterns on the carpet and the gold on the walls. 

When Alicia got to the familiar wooden doors, she hesitated for a moment, before reassuring herself that it was fine, that it had just been a dream. She put her hand on the door, and was surprised to feel it was ice cold, like a window had been left open in the night, but Alicia knew for a fact that she hadn’t opened any windows, they had all been closed when she left last night.  
She hurried to push open the door and ran towards the windows, checking. To her surprise, all of them were securely locked. After a sigh of relief, she walked over to her drawing table.  
What she found there made her sure that the old maid was right. Upon the table sat her drawing, but holes had been burned into it and ink had been messily thrown on the remaining paper. 

Whatever was chasing her in the dream world knew about her in the waking world.


End file.
